Polling stations closed their doors on the first round of the second phase of Egyptian parliamentary elections, after two busy days of voting. The Egyptian people have set their chosen path through the next stage, pushing forth the wheel of democracy, in search of safety and stability

Polling stations closed their doors on the first round of the second phase of Egyptian parliamentary elections, after two busy days of voting. The Egyptian people have set their chosen path through the next stage, pushing forth the wheel of democracy, in search of safety and stability. This was confirmed by the massive turnout on the second day of this phase, which brought total voting for the two days to over 50%.

The following is an account of the most important events of this second election day, so far:

• Menoufia governorate occupied the first place in terms of the rate of participation, where turnout was almost 60% over the two days. This was followed by the governorates of Sharqiya, Aswan and Suez with rates approaching 55%, then the rest of the nine governorates with rates approaching 50%. We hail this great turnout, and extend our appreciation and gratitude for the people, who confirmed for the whole world that they are capable of their making their own future with their free will, passion and awareness.

• This high turnout is a measure of how we value the souls of the martyrs and the wounded who shed their blood and gave their lives so we live this important, critical moment, which we have awaited for decades.

• The electoral process did witness some irregularities in a number of polling stations, where the electorate were directed or instructed to vote for candidate lists of parties competing with the Freedom and Justice party (FJP), inside and just outside polling stations. There were also abuses and violations by some candidates and parties. We are confident that these mistakes altogether do not represent phenomenon, and will not affect the integrity of the electoral process, which was monitored by civil society and more than 50 thousand party and candidate delegates, representatives and agents. All of this came under the supervision of more than 12 thousand judges, overseeing 18 thousand polling stations.

• We emphasise the FJP's full respect for members of the judiciary who participated in the electoral process, and stress that they are worthy and capable of the responsibility placed with them by the Egyptian people. Even if there have been some abuses and violations by a few of them, we regard those as individual mistakes that do not reflect the true nature of the judiciary.

• The FJP calls upon all political parties, candidates, politicians and all stakeholders and those interested in the electoral process to commit to objectivity and accuracy, to ensure the success of this experience which we have craved for so long, and for which the Egyptian people sacrificed thousands of martyrs and wounded, prisoners and detainees over several decades. No matter who is ahead in these elections, the Egyptian people deserve to be proud of this experience, because they are the real winner.

• The FJP takes notice of the practices of certain media owned by a number of businessmen who still have links to the interests of the former regime. Those dubious practices are an expression of their failure to influence the will of the Egyptian man in the street, who is looking for stability. Perhaps this massive turnout in the first and second phases of the elections requires these TV channels to deal with the electoral process in a manner that shows respect for the mentality of the Egyptian citizen who is totally fed up with targeted media looking for trifling interests while tossing the sublime interests of this homeland overboard.